anonymus-maximus said: And never never never ever attempt to touch a wind instrument -whilst it is being played-. Signed, Super cranky clarinetist who’s almost had their teeth knocked out a couple of times.

Touching large brass instruments isn’t terrible. I’ve touched a tuba while someone was playing it because I couldn’t hear (low frequency loss) and it was kind of fun (with permission and all) and I would be annoyed but not super affected if someone touched my euphonium. On the other hand, anything moving while it’s touching your face can be bad. My mellophone bell got hit by a rifle when the guard set four steps too far back during a show and I had a split lip for over a week.

realsocialskills said:

I’m reblogging this without commentary because I don’t understand much about wind instruments.

The difference is that wind instruments sit up against or between your teeth most of the time. If you jar one, you’re either smacking or levering a heavy hard thing into the person’s teeth and could potentially hurt them badly. Brass instruments usually sit against your lips, so they would have to be pushed harder to knock into the player’ teeth or jaw, although it’s still possible.

realsocialskills said:

Ah, I see. That said, it’s still super rude and invasive to touch an instrument that someone is playing without being explicitly invited to do so.